Research Objectives
Learning is complicated! There's more to it than memorizing facts: Learning involves motivation, experience, and identity. Much of what we care about in learning is not well-measured by numbers, so we need a different approach. This project uses reflective methods—students engage in learning activities (their classes), take careful notes, and discuss with peers to understand the nature of their learning.
Our group is particularly interested in the use of models in engineering, but we also investigate things like engineering identity.
Impact
We aim to better understand the nature of learning, with the ultimate goal of improving instruction. Insights from this project have been used to improve Olin courses, such as ModSim.
Also, students who participate in this research develop key transferable skills (critical thinking, careful note-taking) and tend to learn more effectively in their classes.